


Witchcraft

by so_damn_Mishalicious



Series: Shiptober 2019 [4]
Category: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Avengers Tower, Bromance, Eventual Romance, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Witch Hunters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-23 02:04:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20884364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/so_damn_Mishalicious/pseuds/so_damn_Mishalicious
Summary: Tony faces an important detail he missed about Clint Barton. Maybe there is more to his dislike of magic than first expected.





	Witchcraft

**Author's Note:**

> Another silly thing I made for my wife. I love the Hansel and Gretel movie and the thought of Tony and Clint being really close, so this happened. Enjoy.
> 
> Warnings: English is not my native language, not beta'd, can be read as slash but isn't necessary, free interpretation of the lore of the Witch hunter movie
> 
> Kudos, comments and such are highly appreciated ♡

_ “Sir, someone is requesting entrance to the tower.” _

The engineer barely took his gaze from the screen in front of him, too fixed on not letting his comrade win another round of Mario Kart as Jarvis dry voice proclaimed their visitor. He was 100% sure Barton was cheating one way or another but he couldn't prove it yet. Damn that bastard really had an evil eye-to-hand-coordination. 

Ever since the events of New York, the kidnapping of the American president as well as the debacle in London and the infiltration of Shield, the Avengers had decided to move into the Avengers Tower all together. It was easier that way, so if some weirdo dumbass threatened the world again, they’d be pretty quick to assemble. The only exception was Thor who kept visiting Asgard in certain intervals to assure the peace in the other realms. Tony would give everything to see them. Well maybe not everything but definitely a lot.

Right now the billionaire was the only one in the tower besides Barton, who had freshly returned from a mission and needed some rest. Cap, Widow and their new sidekick Falcon were off hunting some guy with a strange eyeshadow tick and his Science Bro was downtown, helping in a voluntary campaign. He probably should feel pretty bad about just staying at home (maybe dodging some boring board meetings, Pepper will be so pissed) but he and the archer had become pretty good friends in a short period of time, being the two most normal people in the team. Also Barton showed some wit and intellect occasionally that he really wanted to explore.

But now he had a race to win.

“Jarvis who's out there? We're not expecting any visitors, so kindly ask them to shove off.”

_ “I’m sorry sir, she is very persistent and wants to speak to agent Barton. The lady seems to be German judging her accent-” _

The clatter of the controller hitting the ground was unexpectedly loud as the brunet jumped off his seat on the couch besides him. He mumbled something incoherent before taking a look at the nearest clock, cursing loudly this time. “Jarvis, please let her in and tell her to wait. God damn I totally forgot it was the 30th of April!”.

The engineer briefly wondered what he had missed but couldn't remember a single special thing about the 30th of April to freak out about. He watched the assassin taking a leap over the couch, hissing over the irritation of his fresh wounds before he vanished into the way his floor was located. Brushing the thought of sulking aside as leaving the game was a clear surrender and so made it his victory, he shut down the console before following the other one down to his quarters, quite surprised over the outfit Barton was hastily changing into.

“You know Halloween is the 31st October yeah? Not in April?”.

The archer shot him a death glare over the collar of his black leather coat, adjusting the the vest beneath - also made from rougher leather - being held in place by a thick belt made from even more leather. He had to admit it suited the archer quite nicely it was just… unexpected.

“So who's fetish party are you attending and why am I not invited? I’m more or less paying for your every shit it's just polite to-”

“I don't think you're suited to attend a witch hunt, so no thank you!”.

The stern female voice startled them both and the lady in the door frame, also wearing an awful lot of black leather (and damn Barton, what sick kinks did he indulge he didn't know of?) entered the room, her aura alone leaving no space for discussions. She reminded the genius an awful lot of Natasha. Beautiful but deadly. Barton put on one of his “Please don't kill me, I didn't do it on purpose!”-smiles as the other brunet neared. “Hey Gretel… you're earlier than expected.”

A snort left the engineers lips at that. “Gretel huh? Does that make you her Hansel?” he kept cackling over his own joke but the unamused questioning face of the woman und Barton’s resting bitch face shut him up pretty fast. “What seriously?”

Gretel rolled her eyes with a huff and decided to ignore him for now. “I’m not early. If I hadn't come here to get you, I would have waited forever. Playing Earth's mightiest heroes makes you lazy, brother! Now get your weapons and hurry up… it isn't Walpurgisnacht forever and we’ve got some evil witches to hunt.”

She left the room without more than a single calculating gaze to the Iron Man and was gone just as silent as she had appeared. This broke the billionaire out of his stupor. “Woah wait - Hansel and Gretel? Hunting witches? You gotta be shitting me... please tell me you do. What are you gonna do? Roast them alive on a stake?”

A nostalgic look drifted over Clint’s (Hansel’s?) face before he went to his closet. “Sadly not… god I miss the good old times… but some bullets into their faces will have to do!”. Rummaging through the small storing chamber he pulled out an antique looking bag, which he threw over his shoulder effortlessly. The metallic clang coming from inside didn't leave a lot for imagination about the content. “But don't worry we've been doing this for a long time - we know exactly what we're doing!”.

His team member patted his shoulder once as he passed his team mate on his way out and Tony turned to see him disappear around the corner. This whole witch thing had to be a joke right? Well he had to give them that aliens also had magic though. And that Barton's behind looked pretty nice in those pants.

He grumbled over all that nonsense and decided to return to his workshop. Maybe it was time to make his suit magic proof after all.

++++

“A-ah! Damn you Stark, ouch that hurts!”

“Yeah you definitely know, what you're doing…”.

Clint had returned the next morning without his sister, bloodied, beaten and all in all looking like shit. “There were dozens of them I couldn't - ouch! - get out of there without a fight… and you're the lousiest nurse on earth!”.

He might have slapped the next band aid a little harder on the other's face than necessary, just because he deserved it. 

“Stop nagging and play nice Hawkguy. It's not my fault you're playing dress up to hunt voodoo hoodoo ladies besides our super secret boy band with a sister you never mentioned before.” A low growl emitted from Clint’s throat and he glared at Tony while he disinfected another cut over his comrade's eyebrow.

“You know what? Forget what I just said - you're an even lousier friend than a nurse. Argh damn it Tony! Stop tormenting me on purpose…”

Tony decided to show some empathy and put another band aid on the others face, this time more careful tho space was growing sparse. They had relocated to his floor after his friend nearly collapsed in the entry hallway, now residing on one of the pompous couches with Clint only wearing his pants and the linen shirt, while the mechanic was armed with the first aid kit he usually kept around. “So witches, hmn? Hansel and Gretel? Sounds a bit…”

The archer huffed. “Crazy? Ridiculous?”

“Extraordinary I wanted to say - please what do you think of me?! But uhm this whole coming from Iowa thing is all fake? Your past in the circus and stuff, it was all made up?”. 

He didn't dare to imply Clint being the one to lie about his background, after all he knew Shield pretty well.

“Not all of it at least. Where I come from is not correct of course, but wouldn't it be a strange introduction to say ‘Hey there I’m an 400 years old witch hunter and you might know me from a fairytale’?" 

Blue eyes bore down into brown ones, "Come on Tony, you wouldn't have believed me even with all the gods, super soldiers and aliens around. Too bad I can't work magic like Gretel does, she could have shown you some neat tricks.”

The mechanic stopped in his tracks and blinked owlishly, not fully comprehending what he just heard. “What?! Her and magic? But wouldn't that make her...?"

“A witch yes. Both of us are but only the girls seem to be able to really use it.” 

Clint took a sip from his coffee mug. He couldn't be bothered out of getting it before coming up here, “Our mother was a great white witch - one of the few good ones out there. We found out pretty late about it, at least for human standards and it came as a cruel surprise. We... tried to make the best out of it and continued on with what we were doing - taking down evil witches to protect innocent citizens.”

A tired shade overcame Clint’s face, giving him a weary impression of someone on an endless journey, exhausted from all the time spent in battle. He recognized it from Steve and it made Tony's heart churn uncomfortably.

“But times changed and so we had to change as well. The cities grew, the believes in magic and witches disappeared into the underground, waiting for their time to rise again. We had some time for ourselves, testing out what was our testimony exactly. Gretel developed some cool powers and me well… looks like my power is taking punches and healing them pretty fast.”

Tony heard the scoff before realizing he made it in the first place. "Woah bird brain… don't think so low on yourself. I mean you're the world's greatest marksman - I saw you taking out an alien space scooter with an arrow and you didn't even bother to look in that direction. You may not have any super powers or magic or whatever but you're a cunning guy with an obscure love for arrows and coffee and a great ass. You can take that from me, because I've checked out enough of them in this lifetime. Are we clear on that?"

His compliment brought a smile to his team mate's face and he felt better. Clint made sure to pack up the leftovers from the medical kit. "Roger that. But you suck at compliments. Next time you should compliment my biceps - Nat's sure they can turn people gay if I just flex hard enough."

They fell into fit of laughter, cackling like some dumb teenagers before agreeing to grab some lunch in the community kitchen together. Barton had changed into a black tank top and grey sweatpants and while trying not to burn the eggs he fried (again), listening to some witch hunter stories and how the dark witches had recently returned in greater numbers, the Iron Man had to agree with the other assassin on his team - Clint's arms were indeed pretty nice for a 400 years old.


End file.
